SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The magic continued for Azusa Pacific as they defeated No. 1 Point Loma in the championship game of the PacWest Tournament. The 78-66 win over the regular season co-conference champions marked the program's first PacWest tournament title despite making four title game appearances. It was also the first time a No. 6 seed had won the tournament.
With the win, the Cougars continue their five-game winning streak while improving their overall record to 14-16 this season.
Ethan Speaker led the team with a season-high 21 points while shooting 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the Championship game. Bryce Sloan had a double-double scoring 13 points from the field while also grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Meanwhile, Ken West produced 11 points and Kaleb Taylor had 10 points to round out double digits for the Cougars.
How it Happened: Although the Cougars scored the game's first points, the Sea Lions responded with a four-point play to take the 4-2 lead in the first minute of the half. That would mark the only time that the Sea Lions held the lead for the remainder of the game.
After the Cougars successfully tied the game with a dunk from Taylor and then took the lead with a jumper from Speaker, the Sea Lions tied the game back up at 6-6. Although the Cougars continued to improve upon their lead, they couldn't get too far as the Sea Lions knotted it back up at 16-16 with 13:07 left in the half.
Over the next five minutes, the Cougars went on a 10-2 scoring run to take a 26-18 lead with 8:13 on the clock. A few minutes later, Point Loma was able to bring it back within four however Azusa Pacific responded with six unanswered points to make the score 35-25 with about a minute left to go.
While the Sea Lions converted four free throws to end the half, Sloan and Trevan Martin found the hoop to allow the Cougars to keep their ten-point lead heading into the second half.
Down 39-29, Point Loma found the net first scoring a jumper and two free throws but their short-lived scoring run to open the half was stopped by a triple from Bryce Sloan. Eventually, the Cougars were able to build to a 13-point lead over the Sea Lions as George Reidy knocked down a three-pointer and Speaker knocked down a free throw to make the score 55-42 with 11:29 left on the clock.
While the Sea Lions tried to chip into their double-digit deficit, the Cougars kept a firm grip on their lead for the rest of the game resulting in a 78-66 win.
By the Numbers: In each of Azusa Pacific's games during the tournament, it has come down to a free-throw battle, especially in the final half. In the Championship game, the Cougars shot 22-for-30 (73%) from the line including 17-for-23 in the second half alone. Point Loma shot 18-for-25 (72%) from the charity stripe including 13-for-17 during the last half of the game.
Both teams also took good care of the ball as the Cougars had nearly a season-low five turnovers while forcing the Sea Lions to seven turnovers. However, Azusa Pacific won the rebound battle with 38 boards compared to the Sea Lions' 30 rebounds.
Up Next: The Cougars will continue their season by making their seventh NCAA West Regional Tournament appearance in program history. They will find out their tournament seeding tomorrow during the NCAA DII men's basketball championship selection show which will start at 8:00 p.m. PT at NCAA.com.
